WordPress 5.0 Roll-Out Schedule

By Month

By Month

WordPress will be releasing version 5.0 on December 6th, 2018. This is a major feature release & we expect it to cause many issues with a large number of plugins & themes. The main component/change of 5.0 is the Gutenberg editor - https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/

WPCloud WON'T be automatically updating our clients installs on December 6, we will hold off on that update until Jan. 22, 2019. Here are what we consider to be important points;

- To allow for extensive testing & bug fixes by theme & plugin authors & to protect our clients against site issues during the important holiday period, we won't be updating installs to 5.0 until Jan. 22, 2019

- WordPress 5.0 is a major feature release, it won't be automatically updated

- If any security fixes are included in version 5.0, those same security fixes will be included in 4.9.+ versions. Updating to version 5.0 isn't required to get the security fixes on your 4.9.+ install.

- Starting on Dec. 7, we will make dev & staging sites available to clients for all installs. This will allow your team to extensively test version 5.0 before we push the update live on Jan. 22, 2019

- At this time, it's our recommendation that you do not update to version 5.0 on December 6. Please note that if you choose to update to version 5.0 before Jan. 22, it will be at your own risk.

- The main change in version 5.0 is the editor. Before updating, we recommend installing the Classic Editor plugin. By default, it will hide all traces of the new Block editor and the Gutenberg editor including the Dashboard widget asking the users to try it - https://wordpress.org/plugins/classic-editor/

Based on the stability, testing, and reports on the release candidates for WordPress 5.0 so far, we are now targeting Thursday December 6th for public release and announcement. 5.0.1 will open for commits soon, and will be an area people can choose to focus on at the contributor day at WordCamp US in Nashville this Sunday.

As before, if new information arises that indicates the software is not stable, we will adjust or remove the target date.

What if I don’t want to update on that date, or I’m not ready?

That’s totally okay, there’s nothing that says you must update the moment there’s a new version released. You can push the button whenever you’re ready.

What if I want to upgrade but I’m not ready for Gutenberg?

No problem, install the Classic Editor plugin and 5.0 will be indistinguishable from 4.9.8 for your posting and editing experience, and you’ll still get the other improvements and fixes that have gone into 5.0. Classic Editor is supported until 2022, and now allows you to switch between Classic and Gutenberg on a per-user or per-post level.

Over 1.3 million .org sites have already opted in to either the Gutenberg or Classic Editor plugin, which is more than run any single version of WP prior to 4.7! Those sites will notice nothing change besides a version number.